Stooooopid.

I keep meaning to talk about my Memorial Day weekend, but there are pictures and they’re still on my camera and I haven’t had my camera in proximity of my computer all week.  So.  Maybe I’ll get there tomorrow.

Right now, though, the thing stuck on my brain is the absolute stupidity of drivers on the road this morning.

It wasn’t that bad until I got within a handful of miles from work.  I drive though a marshy area and this morning there was a lot of fog.  I was still keeping up my normal pace, which means that I was at or slightly above the speed limit.  The minivan that pulled up behind me, I can only conclude, was going at least 10 MPH over the limit.  In dense fog.  And then it passed me — while going across a bridge.  While another car was just emerging from the fog coming the other direction.

Okay, fine.  So the minivan then pulled up really close to the truck I’d been following at a respectful distance and proceeded to get really well acquainted with that truck’s tail end while also popping out now and then to see if it was safe to pass.  Here’s a hint — it never was.  The truck pulled off after a while and the minivan zoomed ahead again, going at least 55 in a residential area.

I refrained from turning on my brights while it was stuck behind the truck.  I thought about it, though.

I caught up with the minivan at the stoplight of a T-intersection.  Traffic gets heavy at this part of my commute, with buses and semi trucks and lots of people trying to all go the same direction.  So we sat at the light for a while and then, at the green light, as many people as possible tried to fit into the tiny space left on the road running crosswise.  The minivan ahead of me ran the intersection just as the light went from yellow to red.

And then the car BEHIND ME also ran the red light.  I stopped at the red light.  The car behind me passed me while I was stopped, going around me so they could run the red light.

Really?  Is this rational thinking here?  Is there any thought involved in an action like that at all?

On the final stretch before getting to work, I cross three sets of railroad tracks.  One of those crossings was broken this morning, with the arm down blocking my side of the road.  I was following a semi truck at this point, and it pulled into the other lane to cross the tracks.  There was a car coming from the other direction that stopped to let the semi through.  Apparently the guy behind me didn’t see that, because when I stopped instead of following the semi, the he made a rude gesture at me.  But I prefer not to have head-on collisions on my way into work in the morning.  It’s just this weird quirk of mine, I guess.  I find it goes poorly with breakfast.

Sheesh.